Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2023

CONTACT: press@securedemocracyusa.org

Secure Democracy: Florida’s Election Bill Is A Mixed Bag For Voters

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – In response to the Florida House’s passage of SB 7050, Secure Democracy USA Director of Advocacy Peter Skopec provided the following statement:

“Florida has long been a national model for convenient and secure voting, so it’s welcome news to see that state lawmakers largely avoided making burdensome changes to vote-by-mail, reflecting recommendations by the Secretary of State and Supervisors of Elections. However, SB 7050 is a mixed bag for voters because it also imposes new requirements and restrictions on support from voter registration organizations, which will hamper the registration process.”

Positive Provisions

• Maintains vote-by-mail largely without burdensome changes, in line with the Secretary of State’s recent report

• Creates a uniform vote-by-mail request form

Problematic Provisions

• Imposes unnecessary and overly cumbersome requirements on Supervisors of Elections for voter list maintenance and ballot canvassing

• Prohibits certain volunteers and employees from handling voter registration forms

• Further increases penalties when voter registration organizations make unintentional mistakes

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Secure Democracy USA is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that works to build confidence in our elections and improve voter access across the United States. We educate policymakers and the public about what it takes to safeguard our voting systems. We use sophisticated survey and messaging research to inform our strategy, and we collaborate with state leaders, election administrators, policy experts, and allies to ensure that all eligible citizens have the freedom to vote how they choose.